Genetic and environmental influences on obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adults: a population-based twin-family study

Grootheest, D.S. van; Cath, Daniëlle C.; Beekman, Aartjan T.F.; Boomsma, Dorret I.

doi:10.1017/s0033291707000980

Cited by 64 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…First, in slight contrast to the previous longitudinal study in children (van Grootheest et al, 2007b), we found no quantitative sex differences in average OC scores or heritability estimates in this adult sample, with the same additive genetic factors influencing both males and females.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Stability in Adult Obsessive Compulsive Behavior

Zilhão

Smit²,

Braber³

et al. 2014

Twin Res Hum Genet

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This study investigates the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the stability of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms in an adult population-based sample. We collected data from twin pairs and their siblings, using the Padua Inventory Revised Abbreviated, from the population-based Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) in 2002 (n = 10.134) and 2008 (n = 15.720). Multivariate twin analyses were used to estimate the stability of OC symptoms as a function of genetic and environmental components. OC symptoms were found to be highly stable, with a longitudinal phenotypic correlation of 0.63. Longitudinal broad sense heritability was found to be 56.0%. Longitudinal correlations for genetic (r = 0.58 for additive, r = 1 for non-additive genetic factors) and non-shared environment (r = 0.46) reflected stable effects, indicating that both genes and environment are influencing the stability of OC symptoms in adults. For the first time, evidence is reported for non-additive genetic effects on the stability of OC symptoms. In conclusion, this study showed that OC symptoms are highly stable across time in adults, and that genetic effects contribute mostly to this stability, both in an additive and non-additive way, besides non-shared environmental factors. These data are informative with respect to adult sample selection for future genetic studies, and suggest that gene-gene interaction studies are needed to further understand the dominance effect found in this study.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Stability in Adult Obsessive Compulsive Behavior

Zilhão

Smit²,

Braber³

et al. 2014

Twin Res Hum Genet

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“…Error variance cannot be distinguished from nonshared or individual-specific environment, and therefore it is likely that the impact of genetic influence on the etiology of OCS is underestimated. Second, the present study only included women, so results cannot be assumed to hold equally for males, although Van Grootheest et al [2007] recently found in a large twin-family study, that the same genetic risk factors were expressed in men and women for OC behavior. Third, because of the use of a threshold model [Derks et al, 2004], and the fact that number of MZ twins exceeded the number of DZ twins [Posthuma and Boomsma, 2000], the power to distinguish genetic influences from shared environmental influences was moderate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Heritabilities of 33% and 26% for obsessions and compulsions, respectively, were found. Recently, Van Grootheest et al [2007] obtained the Young Adult Self Report Obsessive-Compulsive Subscale from a group of 5893 mono-and dizygotic twins, and 1,304 additional siblings and found a moderate heritability of 39% for men and 50% for women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heritability of obsessive‐compulsive symptom dimensions

Grootheest

Boomsma

Hettema

et al. 2008

American J of Med Genetics Pt B

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Recent research has shown that obsessivecompulsive symptoms (OCS) differ remarkably among patients and can be divided into several symptom dimensions. OCS are influenced by genetic components, but it is unknown to what extent these symptom dimensions are heritable. The phenotypic heterogeneity also raises the question to what extent the symptom dimensions are influenced by specific or shared genetic factors. We studied a population sample of 1,383 female twins from the Virginia Twin Registry. OCS was measured by a questionnaire with 20 items from the Padua Inventory. After factor analysis, three reliable OC symptom dimensions were retained: Rumination, Contamination, and Checking. These OC dimensions were analyzed with multivariate genetic models to investigate both the overlap and uniqueness of genetic and environmental contributions underlying OC symptom dimensions. The multivariate common pathway model provided the best description of the data. All symptom dimensions share variation with a latent common factor, that is, OC behavior. Variation in this common factor was explained by both genes (36%) and environmental factors (64%). Only the Contamination dimension was influenced by specific genes and seemed to be a relatively independent dimension. The results suggest that a broad OC behavioral phenotype exists, influenced by both genes and nonshared environment. In addition, we found evidence for specific genetic and environmental factors underlying the Contamination dimension. Use of the Contamination dimension could therefore provide a powerful approach for the detection of genetic susceptibility loci that contribute to OCS.

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“…OCD is moderately heritable (Hudziak et al, 2004;Van Grootheest et al, 2007), with heritability rates between 40 and 45% (Hudziak et al, 2004) and first degree relatives of the patients having a 4-10 times higher risk of developing OCD (Nestadt et al, 2000), depending on age of the proband. At the same time, the genetic basis of OCD is complex, multi-factorial, and under strong environmental influence (Grisham et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mild White Matter Changes in Un-Medicated Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Patients and Their Unaffected Siblings

Fan

Heuvel

Cath

et al. 2017

European Neuropsychopharmacology

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Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder with moderate genetic influences and white matter abnormalities in frontal-striatal and limbic regions. Inconsistencies in reported white matter results from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies can be explained, at least partly, by medication use and between-group differences in disease profile and stage. We used a family design aiming to establish whether white matter abnormalities, if present in un-medicated OCD patients, also exist in their unaffected siblings.Method: Forty-four OCD patients, un-medicated for at least the past 4 weeks, 15 of their unaffected siblings, and 37 healthy controls (HC) underwent DTI using a 3-Tesla MRI-scanner. Data analysis was done using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), and mean diffusivity (MD) values were compared within seven skeletonised regions of interest (ROIs), i.e., corpus callosum, bilateral cingulum bundle, bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculus/ frontal-occipital fasciculus (ILF/FOF) and bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF).Results: Un-medicated OCD patients, compared with HC, had significantly lower FA in the left cingulum bundle. FA was trend-significantly lower in all other ROIs, except for the corpus callosum. Significant three-group differences in FA (and in RD at trend-significant level) were observed in the left cingulum bundle, with the unaffected siblings representing an intermediate group between OCD patients and HC.Conclusions: OCD patients showed lower FA in the left cingulum bundle, partly driven by trend-significantly higher values in RD. Since the unaffected siblings were found to be an intermediate group between OCD patients and HC, this white matter alteration may be considered an endophenotype for OCD.

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Genetic and environmental influences on obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adults: a population-based twin-family study

Cited by 64 publications

References 59 publications

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Stability in Adult Obsessive Compulsive Behavior

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Stability in Adult Obsessive Compulsive Behavior

Heritability of obsessive‐compulsive symptom dimensions

Mild White Matter Changes in Un-Medicated Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Patients and Their Unaffected Siblings

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